Freckled Jawn Brewing holds its grand opening today, Friday, Oct. 9, at 1003 N. Evergreen Ave. in Woodbury, New Jersey, the former home of Eight & Sand Beer Co. Regular hours start today, according to 42Freeway, following soft-opening pours earlier this month. A new specimen has landed in South Jersey, and the Bureau’s file on it is still thin.
What we know about Freckled Jawn Brewing
- The owners: Woodbury residents John Wagner and Colleen Gibson, who heard last September that their local brewery was for sale and didn’t want it to close for good, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported in an Aug. 31 profile.
- The deal: they closed on the 4,300-square-foot building in early August, after Eight & Sand shut down in June. Wagner said the $730,000 deal included the brewing equipment and a vacant lot behind the building, and the brewery license transferred within 17 days.
- The brewer: Matt Karg, a U.S. Coast Guard veteran who studied brewing at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. He brewed at Hickory Nut Gorge Brewery in Chimney Rock, North Carolina, until Hurricane Helene destroyed it in 2024, then at Hi-Wire Brewing in Asheville, per the Inquirer.
- The gear: a 10-barrel system with 20-barrel fermenters, per 42Freeway.
- The name: it started as the couple’s basement bar, the “Freckled Jawn Tavern.” “Freckled” is Wagner’s nickname for Gibson, “Freckles,” and “Jawn” is how she pronounces “John,” a nod to the all-purpose Philly word.
“I just want the community to have somewhere they can go that they’re excited and proud to have in the neighborhood,” Wagner told the Inquirer.
What we don’t know yet
The tap list. Freckled Jawn hasn’t published one, and Bureau sensors won’t invent one. The Inquirer said the brewery started with an Oktoberfest lager because it takes the longest to brew, with a light lager, an IPA, a blonde ale and a stout planned. 42Freeway reported the team was “working toward nine offerings,” sampled Irish Goodbye, a coconut stout, from the fermenter, and said a coffee stout with beans from Talk N’ Coffee in Deptford is in the works. No ABVs have been published.
A start time, and the brewery’s own word. The website still says “Coming Soon,” and no start time has been posted. The band Violet Arcade lists its “Freckled Jawn Grand Opening” show for Saturday, Oct. 10, while 42Freeway puts the grand opening on Oct. 9, so think of it as a grand opening weekend.
Visiting info
- Address: 1003 N. Evergreen Ave., Woodbury, NJ (Gloucester County)
- Planned hours: Mon.-Thu. 4-9 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. noon-10 p.m.; Sun. noon-7 p.m. ET, per the Inquirer
- Saturday, Oct. 10: Violet Arcade, 7 p.m. ET
- Sunday, Oct. 11: doors at 9 a.m. for the Eagles’ London game, per 42Freeway
- Space: a padded bar seating at least 15, leather lounge seating and plenty of screens for Philly sports (42Freeway); indoor capacity of 77, with a patio for 150 to 200 planned on the extra lot (Inquirer)
- Updates: Instagram and Facebook
Bonus sighting: the couple’s freckled dogs, Neo and Trinity, have already been spotted on site.
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